Alpha Engineering Associates, Inc.

IT Professionals

Alpha Engineering Associates, Inc. takes a proactive approach to managing corporate networks and providing maximum network uptime. Over the past two decades, Alpha has become one of the area’s most sought-after sources for delivering managed network solutions to small and mid-sized organizations–providing solid answers from people who understand their business processes and technical requirements.

Clients may have their own IT staff and just want additional high-level support and monitoring of an existing network. Or, if they don’t have in-house support, Alpha Engineering is their full-service IT department, tackling desktop concerns, servers, and network management–the full range of hardware and software issues that emerge over the life of a business–always with an eye toward facilitating future growth.

“We ask companies to think of us as their IT department without the overhead.”

“We ask companies to think of us as their IT department without the overhead,” says Dale Watson, president of Alpha Engineering. “We really try to put ourselves in their shoes and become a part of their company, just like their other employees.”

Alpha Engineering Associates, Inc. started 21 years ago as a software development firm. After several years, it acquired a computer networking services company and from there, evolved into a managed service provider. Founder Dale Watson, a long-time Marylander, still manages a software development group as another division of the company.

Until about seven years ago, Alpha Engineering was primarily a hardware company competing with major hardware vendors like Dell and HP–a reactive business model. Alpha Engineering made the move about five years ago to become a more service oriented, proactive company with increased emphasis on preventive maintenance.

Two years ago, the move was made to provide full managed services where about 80 percent of Alpha’s network management is performed offsite. New developments in software and technology now make such remote access possible, limiting onsite services to hardware failures. In this area, about 50 percent of smaller IT companies are moving in this direction, while the other 50 percent continue to operate with onsite support, on the basis of time and materials.

Alpha Engineering is a Microsoft certified partner, which means all of their technicians have completed rigorous training and testing programs. Because Alpha’s client base consists primarily of small businesses, special emphasis is placed on providing the same services that larger companies expect but at a price smaller companies can afford. “At Alpha Engineering, the same senior level engineer who works on a 500-person network will work on a three-person network,” Mr. Watson says. “All our engineers have over ten years’ experience. So, when a client calls our help desk, he’s getting a fully qualified engineer.”

Many other IT companies categorize their service packages as bronze, silver and gold. Clients who purchase the smaller package get limited resources. “There’s always going to be competition,” Mr. Watson says. “What sets us apart is that we bring the whole package, regardless of the client’s size, delivering the highest level of customer service and treating clients as we would want to be treated.”

Alpha Engineering Associates, Inc.
716 Giddings Avenue, Suite 32
Annapolis, MD 21401
410-295-9500

www.alphaengr.com

Pictured from left: Jane Watson, Dave Carter and Doug Scherer
Photography: Matthew Borkoski